Stealing Happiness
by Skyrocket
Summary: Merrill does some musing after her near marriage to William.


**Stealing Happiness**

Continuity Note: This story is set just after episode fifteen of the anime; "Flower Vendor & Flower Bride."

            I'm a thief. Getting into places I'm not supposed to and taking off with something that doesn't belong to me is what I do. And I don't mind saying that I'm pretty damn good at what it is I do.

            Now just because I'm a thief don't think that I'm into stealing. I tried my hand at being a cat burglar for a while when I was first starting out but I wasn't too good at it. I almost got caught a couple times and never made out very well even when I did grab something and get away clean. Pickpocketing and shoplifting I gave up a few years back. 

            The thing you gotta understand here is that taking something that doesn't belong to you and stealing are totally different. For example, say you're walking down a road somewhere and suddenly see a gold coin lying in the road. Is it wrong for you to take it? Of course not! It may not belong to you, but since it's just sitting there in the road it doesn't belong to anyone else either. So you might as well take it before someone else does.

            On the other hand stealing is taking something that you know belongs to someone else. I stopped being that sort of thief years ago. Having a little voice in your heading saying over and over again "You know this is wrong!" kinda makes snatching stuff for a living rough. I tried to ignore that voice for a while but eventually it got to me and I gave up stealing. 

            Guilt is such a bitch.

            But being a thief did give me something of an edge on life. Stealing isn't easy, you know. While my career as a cat burglar might not have panned out too well the techniques I used to train for that helped get my body in shape. I'm a petite gal so I've learned to use my speed and dexterity to their full potential. Not that I'm weak or anything. I'm stronger than I look and plenty dangerous with a dagger. I also can dish out a nasty kick if I need to.

            Another thing that being a thief teaches you is how to deal with people. It's a lot safer to con someone into giving you their money than it is to break into their house and steal it. A few sweet words and people will hand over every bit of gold they have in their pockets and thank you for the chance to do so. Of course, when they realize they've been cheated they tend to run right to the law and start shouting for your head. Uh, did I mention I also had a short career as a con woman too?

            Anyway, these days I make a living two ways. One is doing a lot of part time jobs. Usually this is just someone needing an extra set of hands in a hurry and me using some of the people manipulation skills I picked up as a thief to convince them that I'm the perfect person for the job. It's not the best way to earn a living but I'm not tied down to a job I hate and I'm always learning something new.

            Now the last really useful thing I learned being a thief was how to get into places people wanted me to stay out of. A long time ago I found out I was a natural when it came to picking locks. Once you have locks figured out all the other tricks and traps people set up to try and keep out become easier to deal with.

            In fact, my skill at getting into places was what lead me to becoming an adventurer. There are tons of ruins setting around here on the continent of Alecrast filled with treasure just waiting for someone to come along and take it. Whoever owned that stuff has been dead for ages so why shouldn't that person be me, right?

            Being an adventurer is pretty nice. It lets me lead a life far more interesting than most people will ever have. Sure, it's hard, dangerous and doesn't always pan out the way you hope. But damn if it's not fun too.

                Like I said, adventuring ain't easy. Which is why I do it with a small team. Yeah, it means I have to spilt the loot four ways, but it's worth it for having a few people I can trust watch my back.

 Genie's the muscle of our little group. Brick walls could take lessons in being built from her. Nevermind that she's as good with a sword as anyone I've ever seen. Genie's kinda lacking in the people skills department but she's really a lot nicer than she lets on.

Melissa is a cleric of Mylee, the god of battle. She's a decent fighter but what she's best with is magic. Holy magic is great for healing and dealing with undead monsters. Needless to say, both Genie and I are glad to have her around when things get tough. 

Melissa is really a pretty sweet person but she can also be really, really uptight at times. Maybe it's because she was raised as a member of the nobility. Maybe she's just spent too much time praying. Whatever the case I think she'd be a lot happier if she'd just loosen up a bit.

And then we have Louie. None of us were keen on having this guy around. But when a god says "This guy's a true champion!" well, that's a hell of an endorsement. Not to mention that Melissa is sorta stuck with him like it or not. And boy does she "or not" a lot. As sorry as I might feel for her even I wish she'd give the whole "It's against my will!" routine a break once in a while.

Yeah, Louie was damn near useless as an adventurer when we first ran into him. I don't even want to think about some of the stupid things he did when he first started to hang around with us. But lately he's actually been doing better. He showed some real guts when we had to deal with that crazy machine that was making the weather go crazy. And guts are the one thing I respect about as much as gold. 

So yeah, those are the people I adventure with. We're an eclectic bunch I grant you. But we're also damn good.

Now back to the reason I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping tonight. It all started one night a week ago when I was out on my latest part-time job selling flowers. Suddenly this absurdly handsome guy rides on a horse and starts going on about how glad he was to finally have found me again and how he was hoping I'll accept his "proposal". I was still trying to figure out where I knew guy from and if he'd really just asked me to marry him when he grabbed me, pulled me onto his horse and carried me off. At first I thought I was being kidnapped.  But pretty soon we arrived at his estate and I realized I was wrong. He'd brought me to the estate of the Wilder family, the wealthiest family in the whole kingdom of Ohfun.

I'd never seen any place so posh in all my life. There were more maids than I could count just waiting to do anything asked of them. I was so overwhelmed by it all I accidentally knocked over a really fancy looking bust of some guy. I tried to say I was sorry but William thought I'd done it because I hadn't liked it and said he could have it replaced with a piece of art I did like. William being the absurdly handsome guy I mentioned before. William then asked me if there was anything, anything in the world I wanted. All I had to do was ask. 

I was at this point that my nature as a thief started to kick in. So I decided to shoot for the moon and asked to take a bath in gold coins. Sure enough, within a few minutes I had a bathtub full of gold coins waiting for me. I could hardly believe it so I jumped right in.

It felt even better than when I used to sit in my darling jar. I actually pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. (Yes, I regularly dream about being naked in big piles of gold coins. Everyone has their kinks.) 

I pinched myself in disbelief. The pain of the pinch confirmed it was real. Oh, I don't think I'd ever been happier in my whole life. Or more turned on but let's not get into that. 

After I somehow brought myself to leave the bath I was told I'd be having dinner with William and his parents. In no time a horde of maids showed up and asked me to pick something from the six dozen or so dress they brought with them. Each and every dress looked fit for a princess and had enough jewels on them to buy a villa in the country. Again, greed took over and I tried putting on as many dresses as possible just so I could have all that shiny goodness close to my body. That, of course, didn't work out too well so eventually I settled on a single dress and was escorted to the main dinning room where William and his parents were waiting.

Since I was the topic of conversation at dinner what was really going on became clear pretty quick. It seemed William had mistaken me for some girl who'd saved his life after he'd been in an accident in the forest. He'd fallen in love with her while she took care of him and wanted marry her more than anything. He'd even said to me earlier that if his parents didn't like me he'd give up everything he had if he could be with me. Needless to say I put the kibosh on that idea as soon as he said it.

After hearing William's story I knew I wasn't the girl he was talking about. It all really was a big mistake. Part of me wanted to come clean right there. Even now I'm not sure why I kept silent. 

I know it wasn't greed. At that point I wasn't even thinking about money, as strange as that might sound for me. I think it was really me still being overwhelmed by what was going on a being afraid of hurting William's feelings. I mean, no ever had ever treated me that way before and it was really hard not to like it. 

The next thing I knew his parents were asking me if I was okay with the idea of getting married on the next holiday which was four days away. My mind was in such turmoil I could only just mutter that it was fine by me.

            Then William's parents told me that if I was going to be a member of the Wilder family I'd have to learn how to be a proper aristocratic lady. I'd had a feeling something like this was coming. But Mr. and Ms. Wilder were pretty nice about it so I didn't protest. 

            To say my introduction to the ways of high society women didn't go well would be an understatement. My lesson in walking with poise ended with me falling flat on my face. 

Greed got the better of me during my harp lesson and I tried to hide a fancy vase under my dress. When the harpist said something to me I got startled and the thing slipped from where I'd been holding it between my legs and landed right on my foot. That damn vase was a lot heavier than it looked and it hurt my foot like hell. The pain made me lose my balance and a fell against a nearby table. My head caught the edge of the table and I got knocked out cold.

            I wasn't hurt so once I came around it was time for my next lesson. This turned out to be making a cake a couple stories tall for the wedding reception. Ms. Wilder told me it was a Wilder family tradition. I worked for hours to make the cake as she instructed. But just as I was putting the final bits of frosting on Ms. Wilder told me that all the work I'd done making that baked monstrosity wasn't up to par and than I'd have to do it again.

            A few more backbreaking tries later Ms. Wilder said it was all right to call it a night and I was shown to a bedroom just a luxurious as the rest of the house. I tried for an hour to sleep in the big four-poster bed but it was just too damn fluffy. I'm used to sleeping on cheap mattresses and the ground. Trying to sleep in that bed was like trying to sleep on a cream puff. 

Eventually I just said screw it, grabbed a pillow and lay down to sleep on the floor. Before I somehow feel asleep all I could think about was how much I wanted a shot of whiskey and stick of beef jerky.

The next day I found myself standing on the balcony of my room looking out over the beautiful garden of the Wilder estate. Getting some sleep had helped to let me think more clearly. At that moment I was essentially engaged to a handsome, kind man who had pledged to do anything I wanted to make me happy and who had more money than just about anyone in the kingdom. All I had to do was not tell him the truth and I'd be able to live like a princess for the rest of my life.

But the fact that the girl who had really saved William was still out there ate anyway at me like I'd been tossed into a pit of acid. I wasn't the girl William loved. I was just Merrill the thief. I was the thief who was stealing the happiness that belonged to that other girl.  

While I was trying to sort my feelings out William came to tell me it was time to start my lessons for the day. I tried to pretend nothing was wrong but William turned out to be more perceptive than I'd expected and asked if something was wrong. I bluffed and told him I was just nervous about the wedding. William didn't seem to believe that fully. He asked if I was feeling sick and said he'd cancel the day's lessons if I wanted.

It was him being kind to me that it. I yelled some excuse and just ran from the room. The words "opportunity of a lifetime" rang in my ears as I ran. So did the word "thief!"

William must have made some excuse for me because no one bothered me for the next few hours. In that time I managed to pull myself together enough that I could at least pass as being normal. I was in the garden still trying to decide if I could bring myself to go through with the wedding when a servant came and told me I had guests. I'd been expecting this.

Sure enough it was Genie, Melissa and Louie. They were polite about it but the "What the hell is going on?" looks were pretty clear on their faces. Part of me wanted to scream "Get me the hell out of here!" but I just couldn't. Guilt, greed and the world of the life I'd know and the world of the life that could be mine all coming together in one room at that sort of moment was just too much for me. I just told them I was fine and really did want to marry William. Louie and the girls were puzzled but wished me well and left. 

I wanted to cry.

Before I knew it the day of the wedding came. After several tries I finally made a cake that Ms. Wilder approved of so the show was on. Dozens of nobles, wealthy merchants and other members of Ohfun's social elite were gathered for the ceremony. 

I was pulling the buff of a lifetime as I walked down the aisle. The conflict of staying silent and living a fairytale life or telling the truth and going back to being Merrill the thief was churning inside of me even as the priest asked me if I'd take William as my husband. 

I was stuttering out some nonsense when the explosion happened. The next thing I knew I was laying on my back, I couldn't see and everything smelled like angel food cake. After sitting up and wiping my face the first thing I saw was Louie grinning his head off telling and me that he was there to rescue me. 

I wasn't totally sure what my friends had done but I knew somehow that everything would be okay and that it was time for me to get the hell out of there. Maybe it was because he thought I'd been through a lot, maybe it was something he saw in my eyes or maybe he was just being nicer than usual but Louie carried me out of the estate piggyback before anyone could see him. Being emotionally exhausted I just let him. 

Once we were safely outside the Wilder estate I felt like my old self again. Louie told me he and the others were glad to have me back. I just smiled and told him what torture it had been not to run off with everything that wasn't nailed down back at the Wilders' place. I guess I was exaggerating a bit, but there was no need for the others to know about what I'd been going through.

Then Louie decided to ruin the moment by asking if I'd eaten a lot of good food at the Wilders. It seemed he thought I'd put on weight. Which I might well have considering all the rich food they served me. But like a lot of girls I'm touchy about my weight so I slugged him one on principle.

This turned out to be a mistake. I nailed Louie right in the temple which totally knocked him stupid. So I dragged his heavy butt back to the inn I had been staying at, slipped the innkeeper a few gold pieces to let Louie spend the night on a bench in the back room (no way in hell was I letting stay in my room!), went back to my room, washed up as best I could, knocked back half a bottle of whisky I'd been saving for a special occasion, had some beef jerky and went to bed.

Genie, Melissa and Louie filled me in on the details of what had happed last night the next morning. They'd stumbled across the girl who'd really saved William's life not long after talking to me. It turns out that her name was Odessa and that she had been employed as a maid at the Wilder estate. While working there she'd fallen in love with William. But, thinking that it would never work because they were from such different worlds, she quite and decided to focus on helping raise her ten brothers and sisters. Not long after that she'd found William hurt in the woods and nursed him back to health just like he'd said. She then took him back home and run off before anyone could recognize her. Given the dozens of maids the Wilders employed I guess it's also not that strange that William didn't recognize her while she was taking care of him.

It had taken a bit of convincing but finally the others convinced her to come with them to make sure William really could marry the girl he loved. After the wedding cake explosion William had spotted Odessa in the crowd and thought she was me. In the confusion Melissa picked up the ceremony where it had left off. The priest who had been performing the ceremony, like pretty much everyone else there, was too in shock from the explosion and almost drowning in frosting to protest Melissa hijacking the ceremony. William apparently was also confused, but managed to put things together after taking one good look at Odessa. So the vows were made and the most memorial wedding in Ohfun since King Rijarl and Queen Meledi tied the knot came to an end.

All's well that ends well, I suppose. Melissa, Genie and Odessa got William alone after the ceremony and explained everything to him. He quickly came up with a plan to tell his parents that Odessa had been nervous about being a former servant of the family and had been using a fake name for the last few days to try and hide that fact. William wasn't too happy about telling his parents a lie, but apparently he didn't want to risk them getting mad at me so he was willing to do it in the best interests of everyone.

Tomorrow I'll have to send him and Odessa a letter apologizing for what I did and wishing them a lifetime of happiness together. I don't think either of them hold any ill will towards me, but I let my greed almost steal their happy future together from them and for that I should at least say I'm sorry.

The day after tomorrow the four of us will be heading out on our next adventure. This afternoon I bought a map to a ruin in the lake country not far from the city that sounds like a good prospect for treasure. 

Which means it'll be another chance for Merrill the thief to do her thing. And believe me, after what happened the last few days I'm going to stick only to taking things that don't belong to me. Because in my heart that's the type of thief I am.   

**The End**

**Author's Notes**: I don't really have much to say about this fic. I was won over by _Rune Soldier_ after the just the first episode and started thinking about the fanfic potential of the series right away. But it wasn't until episode 15 that I found something I could really latch onto. 

            I know most of the story was just a recap of what happened, but I was really interested in what was going on in Merrill's mind during all that. Plus, I always found it rather interesting that even though she was a thief Merrill made her money fairly honestly.

            I've got some ideas for more _Rune Soldier_ stories but I'm going to have to hold off on writing them until I get the chance to see the end of the series. I'd really love to write something about Ila. She's my favorite _Rune Soldier_ character and I'd really like to do something dealing with her feelings for Louie.

            Anyway, thanks for reading. 


End file.
